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I ran a 3.8 mile 5K this past weekend! (Read 891 times)

    This weekend I ran a 5K called the "Mayor's Race 2 Recycle" (in Piedmont Park, Atlanta, GA). I had made this a 'key' race; in other words, I've been doing 5K training for a while now, and this was supposed to be when I was peaking and I wanted to see where I was at fitness-wise, and to see if I could PR. Well, the course had a couple loops around a lake in the park, and by the time I began the 2nd loop, about 2/3rds of the way through the race, I began to realize the race was probably going to be longer than 5K. But I wasn't sure how much longer. This has never happened to me before. It definitely messed with my mind and my pacing. I managed to adjust my pace and finish OK, but I definitely would have done better if I'd known the correct distance from the get go (my Garmin showed it was 3.8 miles long, and my finish time was almost 5 minutes slower than what I was shooting for had it been a 5K). It was kind of disappointing because I wanted to run that last stretch hard, to try to beat my PR. But I guess don't really mind - it was kind of a fun challenge to have to regroup like that mid-race. I did learn something though - if you want to make absolutely certain that the distance of the race your are running is correct, make sure it is a USATF certified course. As far as I can tell, though, not many local 5Ks are. I had some early clues, though, that this race might have problems - it was only the 2nd year they had run it, and the scheduled time to begin race-day registration was 7:30 am for an 8 am race. Finally, 1 minute before the race started, the lead motorcycle cop still wasn't sure where he was going, and the starting line guy was going over a map of the course with him! The weird thing was that the race website had a link to a map of the course. The course was the correct length - I even ran it the week before to familiarize myself with it. But on race day, they used a different course. Maybe there was another event in the park that was physically in the way of the course they had posted on the web. Who knows. Strange happenings..... Undecided How common is this? Has anyone else had a similar experience?
      There was a lot going on in that race. I think I would have the same attitude: disappointed, but try to make the best of it. I remember a 5K when the director announced due to road construction the course had to be changed, and was long. You could feel the reaction from the racers: angry & hostile. I do not want to be the person that has to break that kind of news.
        The funny thing is, there was no apparent reason for the course being too long, and nobody said anything about it until after the race. Somehow someone messed up. I wonder how a typical low-budget local 5K measures a course? Do they use google maps, or is the course measured more precisely somehow?
        Trent


        Good Bad & The Monkey

          if you want to make absolutely certain that the distance of the race your are running is correct, make sure it is a USATF certified course.
          I disagree. Measuring a course does not mean that the final course will be laid out according to the measured course. USATF allows courses to be long. Even if the course is correctly measured and executed, that does not mean that you as a runner will run the course correctly. It is, in fact, possible to measure a course correctly without garnering USATF certification.
            I wonder how a typical low-budget local 5K measures a course? Do they use google maps, or is the course measured more precisely somehow?
            My particular low-budget local 5k measures its course using a calibrated bicycle computer. This year the course was as accurate or more accurate than many a USATF certified course I've run. That's because it was measured AND laid out by a runner (me.) I rode it once backward (finish to start) to get the start/finish lines correct, then rode it 3 times forward to put down and then confirm the mile markers.

            Runners run

            jEfFgObLuE


            I've got a fever...

              Sounds like the cop went the wrong way. He should've taken that left turn at Albuquerque.

              On your deathbed, you won't wish that you'd spent more time at the office.  But you will wish that you'd spent more time running.  Because if you had, you wouldn't be on your deathbed.

              Trent


              Good Bad & The Monkey

                BTW, for those of you running in the hills of Tennessee this weekend, please do remember this. A kiss is just a kiss. And this too. If you get to the end of your race and you (or your gadget) believe the route to be long, we won't charge you extra; if you believe it to be short, just keep running.
                  The robbery is blamed on the monkeys.

                  Runners run

                    Moonlight and love songs Never out of date

                    "Good-looking people have no spine. Their art never lasts. They get the girls, but we're smarter." - Lester Bangs

                      Any fingerprints we leave must be erased by the monkeys.

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                      AmoresPerros


                      Options,Account, Forums

                        It is, in fact, possible to measure a course correctly without garnering USATF certification.
                        About as likely as monkeys flying I bet...

                        It's a 5k. It hurt like hell...then I tried to pick it up. The end.

                        jpnairn


                        straw man

                          The day after Halloween I ran the Great Pumpkin Run. It was supposed to be a 5K, but was only about a mile and a half. I didn't even bother to put it in my log. The RD went to the trouble of sending an email after apologizing for the fiasco, but never went to the trouble of posting results, which I was a little curious about, not like I would have been if it had been a real race or anything. I felt sorry for the people who took it more seriously than I did. I ran it in costume, like most people there. But some people came dressed as runners. The organizers went through all the motions of giving us race bibs, and taking off the bottom strip at the finish. But no results except for awards to first male and female. If not for the time spent socializing, and the benefit to some children's charity I don't even remember, it would have been a waste of time and money. I still don't know how they got it so screwed up. I have to remind myself that I was asked to volunteer to help, but didn't.

                          He who has the best time wins. Jerry

                            USATF allows courses to be long.
                            Hmmm. That's not what their website says. "A USATF-certified course is a road race course whose distance has been certified for accuracy. Courses must be certified for any road running performance to be accepted as a record or to be nationally ranked. Furthermore, running a race on a certified course allows you to accurately compare your time to performances run on other certified courses because you can be sure the distances were the same. No one can truly establish a personal best if the course distance is not accurate." Sounds like the USATF's goal is to have courses that are measured accurately - not too long, not too short.
                            It is, in fact, possible to measure a course correctly without garnering USATF certification
                            Sure, it's possible. In fact, this is the first time I've run a 5K before that wasn't, as far as I know, measured accurately. But if you want to be sure about it, my experience this past weekend suggests one should either running a well established 5K that you know is correct, or run a certified course. Like I said, it has never been a problem for me before - that's why I was so surprised. I guess I was just wondering if this is relatively common, or rare, or somewhere in between. Just curious if what others have experienced.
                            Trent


                            Good Bad & The Monkey

                              This statement -
                              if you want to make absolutely certain that the distance of the race your are running is correct, make sure it is a USATF certified course.
                              is not the same as this statement -
                              But if you want to be sure about it, my experience this past weekend suggests one should either running a well established 5K that you know is correct...
                              And no, USATF encourages course measurements to be ~0.1% long. Better too long than too short.
                                Trent, you seem cranky. Are you by chance hosting a party for 200 strangers this weekend and do you by chance have a baby with a 103.5 fever at home? mta: Also will the course be accurate?

                                Runners run

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